


Jane's Turn

by KellyLiz



Category: Lizzie Bennet Diaries
Genre: F/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2013-11-10
Updated: 2013-11-14
Packaged: 2018-01-01 03:00:22
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 3
Words: 7,547
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1039556
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/KellyLiz/pseuds/KellyLiz
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Jane and Bing fly to San Francisco to celebrate Lydia's birthday along with Lizzie, Darcy and Mary.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Vacation at last

“Oh no, oh no, oh no, oh no,” I frantically clawed my way through the pile of papers and folders stacked next to my computer. Nothing, nada, nichts. The contract for the Verda line was nowhere to be found. 

My heart was pounding. The office was empty besides a few other stragglers and me. It was well after 5:00 and tomorrow I should be blissfully flying to see my sisters and take a long vacation over Christmas—my first vacation in months. That is, if I could ever find what my boss, Ginger, needed so I could finish my work and go home. At least I had told Bing I would be late so he wouldn't be worried. It had become par for the course the last month. Now it was time for my reward, well-earned time away from this crazy place that I loved 90% of the time and hated the rest. I fought off the dread rising in me. Where could that blasted contract be?

I put my hands on the sides of my forehead and tried to concentrate. I was rational, I could figure this out. It was probably somewhere obvious. My brain just wouldn’t function properly because I was tired and hungry and desperate to go home. I took a couple of deep breaths and forced my mind to work backwards from the last time I had seen the contract.

That was it! Ellen had mentioned she’d given it to Laura yesterday to input the financials in the budget. I went over to Laura’s desk and looked around. Her cubicle was meticulously organized; all papers put away or filed somewhere. There was no sign of any contracts on her desk.

I let my head droop. Laura was gone for the day. The contract was probably locked away in her desk or passed on to someone else. I would not be able to finish my report outlining our projections for the next month without that contract.

“Are you okay, Jane?” I jumped slightly. Jasmine had quietly come up beside me and put her hand on my arm. She had her coat on ready to go home.

“Yes… no… I don’t know.” I shook my head. “I need to see the Verda contract for my report before I go on vacation tomorrow. I think Laura locked it in her desk.”

“I scanned it after it was signed,” Jasmine smiled at me. “If you just need the information from it, not the official copy, you can use that.”

“Jasmine, you’re a lifesaver!” The sweet feeling of relief swept through me and I hugged her. “An electronic copy will be perfect.”

“It’s on the network drive in the ‘Contracts’ folder,” Jasmine waved as she left. “Happy Holidays. Have a great vacation,” she threw back over her shoulder.

A half-hour later, I finished my report and emailed it to Ginger. I let my shoulders slump as I shut down my computer and gathered my things. At least the elevator was quick after hours. It reached the ground floor and the doors opened to the deserted lobby. I needed to go back to my apartment to pick up my suitcase and some casual clothes before I could go to Bing’s apartment and finish packing. Just the thought of the long, crowded subway ride to Brooklyn with my stomach growling was fatiguing.

I pushed through the heavy glass doors to the cool, damp evening. Raindrops from a recent shower glittered on the parade of taxis and cars streaming past. A dark shadow separated from the side of the building and came towards me. “Bing!” I exclaimed. “What are you doing here?”

Bing smiled at me as he took my bag. “Waiting for you. I thought you would be tired and would like a ride to your apartment to get your stuff. I’m parked over there.” He pointed across the street to a parking garage.

“You’ve just been waiting out here in the dark? Why didn’t you call?”

“I wanted you to be able to finish whatever you had to do before our vacation.” Bing brushed my hair from my eyes. “I haven’t been here too long.”

“How did you know I was still here?” Elation was washing through me at his presence.

“Jasmine came out when I first arrived. She told me you were just completing a report.” He put his arm around me.

I leaned my head against his shoulder and sighed, the tension draining from my body at last. “I’m so glad to see you. Thank you for thinking of this, Bing.”

 

The Friday before Christmas is one of the busiest airline travel days of the year and the airport was teeming with holiday travelers. It’s quicker to find Lizzie in crowded places now that she’s always plastered to the side of Darcy whose height makes him easy to spot. I ran towards her and embraced her tightly. Much as I love living in New York, I hate not living closer to Lizzie and the rest of my family. 

After a long hug, we turned in unison to Bing and Darcy who were standing side by side patiently waiting. Not for the first time, I reflected how different guys are when expressing their feelings to each other. Bing had missed Darcy almost as much as I missed Lizzie. One brief hug in greeting and they were good.

“Are you tired?” Lizzie looped her arm through mine as we made our way closer to the baggage carousel. “Lydia is driving down with Mary and should be here in a few hours.”

“No, I’m fine.” I turned my head to smile over my shoulder at Bing. “I slept a few hours on Bing’s shoulder on the flight.”

“Tonight we’ll just hang out,” Lizzie stopped as we watched the luggage circling endlessly, people craning their necks for their bags. “Tomorrow night is our swanky birthday dinner for Lydia and our girls’ slumber party.”

“I’m so glad she was willing to postpone her birthday celebration so we can be together,” I said.

“She thought it would be better after finals so she wouldn’t have to worry about studying anyway,” Lizzie pointed to my suitcase as it slid down the sloped conveyer belt and knocked another bag askew. “Is that yours?”

I nodded and Bing weaved his way to the edge of the carousel to grab the bag. Travelers parted and smiled at Bing’s friendliness as he charmed his way past them. “Lydia’s become a lot more patient now also.”

“Yeah, our baby has grown up.” Lizzie smiled, but I could hear a small note of regret in her voice. I squeezed her arm and she looked at me. “Thanks for picking out her gifts in New York. I know she’ll love them.”

“It’s a great shopping city. There are some amazing deals in the jewelry district if you are patient and know where to look. I can hardly wait to show you the new earrings and bracelet I found for her. And I have some amazing clothes for her for Christmas. Finding cute outfits for my sisters is one of the best perks of my job.”

Bing had found his suitcase by this time and was quizzing Darcy about Twitter as we turned towards the parking garage. According to Lizzie, Darcy made a killing on the Twitter IPO and Bing loved talking to Darcy about financial investments. 

We had only been able to see Darcy and Lizzie in person a handful of times since they started dating. Each time we saw Darcy now, I felt a little jolt of surprise. He looked so different. Happiness suited him. Cemented in my mind was the memory of the Darcy from Netherfield; his face unreadable and closed and a distance in his eyes as if he held himself aloof. It had rarely vanished completely except when he and Lizzie engaged in one of their long debates. Now, even as Darcy listened to Bing his eyes were lit from within as they rested on Lizzie’s swaying hips as she walked in front of him. And Lizzie-- my eyes took in my sister chatting eagerly by my side. She was radiant. Her eyes gravitated constantly to Darcy’s. It was clear how well she was doing just by looking at her.

Was Bing as happy with me as Darcy was with Lizzie? I looked at Bing carefully, trying to see him with an objective eye. Bing was wearing his usual affable expression, his eyes cheerful and a wide smile that came easily. He noticed my stare and winked at me. Not for the first time, I thought about how caring he is, how kind and how dependable. I felt something niggle at the back of my mind. I pushed it aside impatiently. We were on vacation. Important decisions could wait.


	2. Lydia 2.0

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Lydia's birthday celebration.

“Do you have any purple eye shadow?” Lydia asked Lizzie elbowing her way around Mary to the mirror. Lizzie and Darcy’s master bathroom was large, but four girls fixing their hair and putting on make-up took up a lot of space.

“Hey!” Mary glared at Lydia as a huge splotch of black from her mascara wand landed on her upper cheek when Lydia jostled her arm. “Didn’t you notice I was standing right here?”

Lydia giggled. “Sorry, Mare. Jane and Lizzie are hogging the other mirror and as I will be the center of attention tonight, I need lots of primping time.”

“Zero fucks given about your primping needs,” Mary grumbled in her deadpan voice as she wiped off the errant mascara goop. 

“Yeah, well at least I don’t have to antistalk the cute guy in our dorm because I can’t be bothered to wash my hair,” Lydia told her.

“Are we in our dotage already? They’ve been using slang I haven’t heard before.” I raised my eyebrows at Lizzie in the mirror we were sharing.

She shrugged. “I’m as much out of the loop as you. Most of the people I work with are older than me and I live with William. I’m pretty sure he’s never talked as if he were young. He probably didn’t speak as a toddler until he could form complete complex sentences.”

Lydia smirked at us. “Yeah, you guys are almost as clueless as mom and dad.” Lizzie handed her the purple eye shadow and she started applying it with her finger.

“How’s mom doing with her baby gone?” I asked Lydia sympathetically. “She is closest to you. Does she call you often?”

“She’s sadder than she thought she would be now that we’ve all moved away.” Lydia said. “ _I_ call her three or four times a week. I don’t think she realized when she was plotting to get you two hooked up with potential husbands and to get me to go on in college how boring our house would be without us.”

“She must be enjoying her meditation room,” Lizzie pointed out.

“Yeah, for like 20 minutes a day.” Lydia turned and gave Lizzie and me a level look. “You guys should call her more often. She’s lonely. She misses us. Ditto for Dad.”

Lizzie looked down guiltily. I shook my head feeling awful. “I know. I’ve been so terrible lately about calling Mom and Dad regularly. This last show really wiped me out.”

Lizzie nodded. “I’ve been working on a new project. But that’s no excuse. I can always find half an hour to call.” She walked over to Lydia and put her arm around her shoulders. “When did you become the mature sister?”

“It was bound to happen eventually,” Lydia grinned. “You two have always been so flighty.”

I smiled as I applied black eyeliner. My eyes looked brighter than they had the last several weeks and I wanted to play them up for Bing who would be thrilled I did not look stressed. Lizzie came back by my side fastening on an opal necklace. The necklace fit perfectly in the v-neckline of her dress, the iridescent colors accentuated by the deep blue dress. “New?” I asked.

“William gave this to me for our nine-month anniversary,” Lizzie smiled and then looked critically in the mirror. “My lipstick shade is okay with this dress, isn’t it?”

“You look beautiful.” I said sincerely.

“Hey, the birthday girl gets to judge first,” Lydia reminded me. She turned to Lizzie and pursed her lips, letting her eyes run slowly up and down Lizzie’s body. “You’ll pass.”

“I’ll take that over ‘kind of a dog’ any day,” Lizzie commented drily.

“Hey, you can’t blame that on me. I was just paraphrasing what Darcy first said about you.” Lydia gave Lizzie an innocent smile. 

“That’s a stretch considering you were playing Bing responding to my interpretation of what William had said about me,” Lizzie reminded her.

“That’s just semantics. We all know your video audience got the point of how Darceface felt about you back then.” Lydia waved off Lizzie’s details as unimportant. “Considering he can’t keep his hands off you now, I’m pretty sure he’s changed his mind about your, er, physical attributes.”

“Fortunately I also changed my mind about him,” Lizzie said.

“You finally learned to turn the other cheek, didn’t you?” Lydia smacked Lizzie’s ass. 

“I’ve missed you, Lydia.” Lizzie laughed and hugged her. “By the way, you look amazing tonight.”

“I’m not done yet.” Lydia ran into Lizzie and Darcy’s bedroom and came back with a few of her birthday presents. “I’m so glad you guys insisted I open my gifts before dinner.” She slipped her new earrings and bracelet on as she spoke. “This way I can wear them tonight.” The gold dangling earrings sparkled in the bright lights of the bathroom as Lydia pirouetted for us, her emerald green dress flaring out.

“They look good on you,” Mary nodded, assessing Lydia critically. “I’d borrow them.”

Lydia snorted. “That’s Mary’s highest praise,” she explained to me and Lizzie. “She’ll probably wear them as often as I do.”

“They’ll work with black,” Mary pointed out. “My standard color.”

“Doesn’t _everything_ work with black?” Lydia asked rhetorically. “When are you going to break out of that lame mono-color palette anyway, Mary? Jane can help you.” She turned to me. “Can’t you, Jane?”

“Mary has her own style,” I said firmly. “I don’t like to give unwanted advice.”

Mary looked at me appraisingly. “I do love your hair done up that way. Can you show me how you did that?”

“Of course,” I stepped over to Mary and started separating her hair, explaining each step as I did it.

“Lizzie,” we heard Darcy’s voice from the hall outside their bedroom door. “Our reservations are in half an hour. Are you almost ready?”

“Just about,” Lizzie called out. She hurriedly started closing up and gathering the open make-up strewn around the counters. “Everyone done here?” I hurriedly finished Mary’s hair and put the final clip in it.

“I’m all set to go out with you two and your studly boyfriends.” Lydia tucked her arm in Mary’s and smiled at her. “My date is pretty hot too.”

“Awwww.” Mary leaned her head against Lydia’s. “My date is so sweet. I just hope she puts out tonight.” 

“Only in your incestuous dreams, cuz.” Lydia shook her finger at Mary. “I’m saving myself for someone special.”

Lizzie smiled at me as we followed Lydia and Mary out. “You look incredible, Jane. Bing’s eyes might just pop out of their sockets.”

“That’s the idea,” I said brightly.

 

Mary leaped up. “We need popcorn before we start the movie marathon,” she pointed out. “I’ll make it.”

Lizzie sat up, struggling to move the blanket out of her way. It was tucked tightly around her and me on the loveseat we were sharing. “I’ll help you.”

“No, relax.” Mary waved her off. “I’m sure I can find everything.”

“Looking forward to Christmas with the parents?” Lizzie slouched again under the blanket and turned towards me with a big smile. I hadn’t even tried to get up to help, unusual for me. Lizzie understood. She insisted I do as little as possible this weekend. It felt so good to just sit back with no responsibilities for a change. Now that Darcy and Bing had left to stay at Fitz’s place for the night, we had all changed to comfortable clothes and I had skipped ahead to putting on my softest pajamas. 

“Yes, except I’m just hoping Mom doesn’t embarrass me by asking when I’m going to move in with Bing in front of everyone.” I frowned. “I know she means well, but it’s not helpful.”

Lizzie took my hand. “I’ll talk to mom if you want,” she said gently.

Lydia looked up from inspecting her nail polish. “Oh, you don’t need to. Bing already took care of it.”

My head snapped up. “What?”

“Bing cornered her alone the next day after that diatribe she gave you at Thanksgiving.” Lydia spoke airily. “He’s pretty persuasive. He told her how important it was to give you space to decide when and if you are ready to move in with him.”

I stared at her and then Lizzie. Lizzie looked nonplussed. “Impressive,” Lizzie said. “But if Bing cornered her alone, how do you know about this?”

“I have my ways,” Lydia grinned. “Bing even followed up. He called Mom this week. She called me right afterwards. He spent a half hour listening to her and then reminded her about not bugging you, Jane. I mean, I’m sure he said it better than that, but same idea.”

My mouth was hanging open. Lizzie nudged me. “I take it you knew nothing about this?”

“No,” I shook my head. “Not a word.”

“So, he hasn’t pressured you about moving in with him?” Lizzie asked.

“No, he hasn’t said anything since we talked when you visited in September, Lizzie. He’s also been really understanding when I work late hours.” I suddenly stopped with a sinking dread in my chest. “You don’t think it’s because he doesn’t want me to live with him anymore, do you?”

“Are you kidding?” Lydia’s voice was acerbic. “Didn’t you hear what I said? He listened to mom for half an hour! No guy who wasn’t crazy about you would do that.”

“She’s right, Jane.” Lizzie said. “He must have really taken to heart what you said. He’s trying to make it easy on you.”

I looked down, thinking. I felt a little smile cross my face. “That’s so sweet.”

Lizzie looked across to Lydia who was busy rearranging the pillows behind her on the large couch. “How was your first quarter at Sacramento State, Lydia?”

“I loved it,” Lydia’s smile lit up her whole face. “It’s the first time I’ve felt my classes were actually practical—that they are going to be useful in my career.”

“So you think social work is the right choice for you?” I asked.

“Yeah,” Lydia said seriously. “I’m so impressed by many of my friends in the program. My life has been a cakewalk compared to theirs.”

“Really?” Lizzie pushed herself to a sitting position. 

“I mean, I’ve learned that you don’t compare your horror stories. I don’t want to downplay how devastating what happened with George was for me. But I have a functional family, loving parents, sisters who came running to support me.” She stopped and shook her head. “You don’t want to know what some of these people have gone through. And they’re amazing because they want to dedicate their lives to helping others.”

Lizzie’s eyes met mine. Lydia sounded so mature, so passionate. “You do too,” I pointed out. “You are dedicating your life to helping other people.”

“Yeah, I’m pretty awesome too.” Lydia grinned with her old cockiness, but there was conviction behind it now. “And it has been great rooming with Mary. I like living away from home. I have more sympathy for both of you. It must have been tough moving back home after you finished your undergraduate degrees.”

“It did save me a ton of money,” Lizzie said. “I’d hate to think what my student loans would be if I had to pay for rent and food along with tuition for my master’s.”

I nodded. “My job didn’t pay enough for me to move out those first few years. Thank goodness I can support myself now. But it gave us extra time living with each other.”

“I may not have appreciated that at the time,” Lizzie held out her hand to grasp Lydia’s across the side table. “I do now.”

“I still miss you both,” Lydia said. “But I feel I have a purpose now. I actually know what I’m working towards finally. It feels good.”

Mary came back carrying two huge bowls of popcorn. She handed one to Lizzie and me and then flopped down on the couch next to Lydia. “What are we watching?”

“Did you get the DVDs I asked for?” Lydia asked Lizzie.

“Yup.” She handed Lydia a stack of DVDs from the coffee table.

“First up, mindless hot mancake action…’Magic Mike’. Second, we’ll go back in time to watch Hugh Grant’s adorable bumbling in ‘Four Weddings and a Funeral’. That will be followed by the hysterical ‘Bridesmaids’.” Lydia grinned at us. “No homework flicks tonight!” 

Last night, we had watched ‘Holes’, as part of an assignment for Lydia next term. Lydia’s favorite teacher had emailed the class that they could get a jump on their first paper by watching the movie and reading the book over the holiday break. “Dr. Reed is going to cover books and movies aimed at different age groups. She said ‘Holes’ is one of the best young adult books at addressing social justice.” Lydia had explained. Lydia wanted our input, particularly Lizzie who is a master at dissecting books and movies. Lizzie and I had looked at each other bemused as Lydia set up the DVD. Since when did Lydia work on homework _ahead_ of time?

Lizzie jumped up and put the first movie in the DVD player, flicking on the large-screen TV and surround sound. She hit a switch that dimmed the lights. The Christmas tree looked even more beautiful in the semi-dark, its red lights softly shining through the branches. “Ahh,” Mary cooed. “Nice home movie theater set-up.”

“Just wait until you see Tatum Channing’s sexy dance moves,” Lydia promised. “I might have to use the coffee table for a virtual dance with him.” She stood up, pulled off her sweater and circled it above her head while swinging her hips before flinging it across the room.

I laughed and looked at Lizzie. “I think Lydia will be more entertaining than the movie.”

Lizzie nodded and pulled a couple wads of play dollar bills out from the end table drawer. “Why do you think I got these?”

“I’m so glad Lydia is still Lydia even now that she’s so grown up,” I said quietly to Lizzie, watching as Lydia hopped up on the coffee table to gyrate to the first strip dance. “Work it baby!” Mary called out encouragingly.

“Me too. I like Lydia 2.0.” Lizzie smiled and threw one of the wads of bills to Mary who promptly stuck a dollar in Lydia’s waistband.


	3. Jane and Bing

Lydia yawned as she slumped over her plate of French toast. “I must be getting old. I only had two glasses of wine at dinner and I’m still tired this morning.”

Lizzie scooped up two more pieces of French toast from the pan and piled them on my plate. “You did work up quite a sweat dancing for us.”

“Awesome show, Lyd,” I said as I sprinkled powdered sugar on my French toast.

“I remember you two shaking it up next to me for a few songs,” Lydia said.

I nodded. “That was fun. My stomach still hurts from laughing when you spun Lizzie around until she got dizzy and crashed into the Christmas tree.”

“Thank goodness William has it well-anchored in that huge tree stand,” Lizzie said. “The only casualties were two ornamental balls.”

Mary stumbled in, her eyes still at half-mast. “’Morning,” she mumbled. 

“Coffee? French toast?” Lizzie asked and Mary’s eyes perked up as she nodded. Lizzie set a cup of coffee in front of her and dipped bread in the egg mixture, dropping the sodden bread on the hot pan.

Lydia looked up at Mary. “Nice hair,” she giggled. Mary must have been too tired to fully take her hair down and brush it after our movies. It was flat on one side and on the other side hair was sticking out at every angle possible.

Mary’s hands went up to her hair as she ineffectually tried to comb it out with her fingers. “I threw that hair clip that was on this side across the room in the middle of the night when I rolled over and it pinched me.”

Lizzie handed Mary her plate of food and sat down across from Lydia. “Aren’t you going to eat?” Lydia asked Lizzie.

“I already did. You were nowhere near ready by the time I’d made the first batch.”

“Did you like your birthday celebration?” I asked Lydia.

“It was awesome. I _loved_ that restaurant we went to. I don’t know how you don’t gain weight eating like that,” she said to Lizzie.

“We don’t usually go to places that nice. This was a really special occasion,” Lizzie objected.

“It was super cool of your rich boyfriend to give me such a fancy dinner for my birthday present,” Lydia said. “It’s fun to see how the other half live.”

“That steak just melted in my mouth,” Mary said stuffing a forkful of French toast in her mouth. 

“I’ve never tasted salmon so fresh,” I finished my breakfast and sat back in my chair and smiled at Lydia. “What was your favorite part of your birthday celebration?”

“Sharing it with you. Thanks so much for everything, you guys.” Lydia said. “But I’m missing a present.” She turned to Lizzie with a teasing grin. “Where’s my advice book with needed words of wisdom?”

Lizzie’s mouth twisted. “I had a feeling you might ask that.” She got up and left the room leaving Lydia’s mouth gaping open in surprise. Lydia threw me a questioning look. I knew nothing about this and I shrugged my shoulders.

Lizzie returned carrying a gaily wrapped present in the square shape of a large book. Lydia looked a bit stunned as she uncharacteristically pulled the wrapping paper off slowly. 

She blinked rapidly when she saw the cover of the photo book titled “Lydia’s Words” over a huge picture of the three of us taken on Lydia’s first day of kindergarten. I scooted my chair around the corner of the island and angled closer so I could look over her shoulder. Lydia opened it to the first page and smiled when she saw several childhood photos of us arranged scrapbook style across the page. Each photo had a quote from Lydia that although taken out of context, fit the picture to make it more meaningful or humorous. 

Lydia paged through the book, reading out loud her quotes while Mary and I commented or laughed. Lydia’s words were insightful, funny or introspective. She cracked up when she read “Sometimes good genes tend to skip a sibling” under an unflattering photo of Lizzie, around six years old, sticking out her tongue and rolling her eyes flanked by an adorably chubby three-year old Lydia smiling cherubically and me, grinning happily. 

The last page had a large photo of the three of us taken a couple of summers ago. We were all barefoot wearing sundresses and petite Lizzie stood between Lydia and me, inches shorter than us. Underneath, Lydia’s quote read “And we lived happily ever after. And I growed up bigger than Lizzie.” Lydia giggled. “How old was I when I said that?”

“Five,” Lizzie said. “You told me a fairy tale about the Three Best Sisters Ever and I wrote it down for you. I found it in a box of schoolwork of mine that mom made me bring home after Thanksgiving.”

Lydia shook her head as she closed the book. “Lizzie…. I don’t even know what to say.” She ran around the table and plopping down on Lizzie’s lap hugged her, tears leaking from the corners of her eyes. “I can’t believe you put all this together. It’s awesome. Thank you, thank you, thank you!”

“You’re welcome,” Lizzie grunted under Lydia’s weight as her arms hugged Lydia back. “Better than last year?”

“Jackpot!” Lydia assured her.

“How could you remember all that? Never mind, I know—but your memory is kind of creepy,” Mary said. 

Lydia got off Lizzie and darted over to pick up her book again. “I’m fucking amazing! These quotes are genius.”

I wiped my eyes and put my hand on Lizzie’s arm. “I want a copy,” I said quietly to her. She nodded, titling her head towards the living room. “It’s under the tree.”

 

Bing’s eyes slid shut for the second time since we had sat back on the comfortable couches in the living room following lunch. “He woke up on East Coast time although we stayed up late,” Darcy explained. 

“Hey,” I leaned over and whispered in his ear. “Would you like to go to our room and lie down?”

“Mmph,” Bing replied without opening his eyes. I stood up and pulled on his lax hands. “Bing, you have to help here.” I laughed, pulling harder. “I can’t carry you. And I don’t think you want Darcy to.” I heard a snicker from Lizzie behind me.

Bing stood up and shuffled slowly as I led him to our bedroom. I pulled back the comforter and gently pushed him down on the bed. He squinted open his eyes one last time to look at me. “Are you going to stay?”

“I’ll be back in a few minutes. I’m going to talk to Lizzie and get my Kindle.” I bent down and kissed his forehead, pulling the comforter over him.

“Wake me in an hour?” Bing’s words were slurred, his eyelids glued shut. 

“Yes, dear.” I said it soothingly, not allowing a hint of sarcasm in my tone. One of the few times Bing was crabby was when first woken from a nap. If he napped more than an hour, he would have trouble sleeping at night so I was more than happy to do it.

I headed back to the living room. “How’s Sleeping Beauty?” Lizzie asked.

“Already down for the count.” I collapsed down on the couch next to Lizzie.

Lizzie yawned. We’d had a late night also. “I hope Lydia and Mary aren’t too tired on their long drive home,” she said fretfully.

“I lectured Lydia about pulling over if they get sleepy. She seemed pretty energetic,” I paused at the connotations that word had brought in the past and Lizzie smiled. “Mary was ready to blast the car stereo with Christmas music and planning to sing the whole way.”

“That’s right I always forget what an amazing voice Mary has. What do you and Bing usually do on lazy Sunday afternoons?” Lizzie asked.

“Read, go to a movie, explore the city or play games. Bing and I play cribbage a lot. Remember, Lizzie, when you taught me that first summer at Netherfield?”

Lizzie smiled. “Yes. It was more fun when the loser had to ‘fess up to their most embarrassing moments.” She looked across the room at Darcy who was lounging in an armchair and had picked up his tablet. “Too bad you missed that.”

Darcy’s gaze became warm as it rested on Lizzie. “I didn’t. I was there.”

“You were?” Lizzie was frowning. “Why didn’t I notice you?”

“It seems you tried not to notice me back then. I was in the corner working on my laptop.” His lips turned up as he set aside his tablet.

I could practically see her mind spinning as she thought back to that day and tried to recollect our conversation. “What did I say that was so amusing?” Lizzie asked him.

“It wasn’t that it was amusing. It was… interesting.” His face was deadpan but his eyes had an expression I could not read. 

Apparently Lizzie could because after a few moments her eyes widened as she remembered what had probably struck Darcy. “You heard that I had to borrow Lydia’s string bikini at the public pool?”

He nodded. “And a 16-year old hit on you.”

Lizzie squirmed, embarrassed. “Hey, I shut him down immediately.”

“That’s a good thing as he was jail bait,” I put in helpfully. Lizzie rolled her eyes at me as Darcy laughed.

“I haven’t worn that suit in public since then.” Lizzie continued to protest. Darcy raised his eyebrows. He looked as if he were about to speak and then his eyes flicked to me.

I stood up and started edging from the room. “I’ll just leave you two alone.”

“Why didn’t you say something that day to let me know you were there?” Lizzie asked her eyes on Darcy. 

“I didn’t want to embarrass you,” he said, but he ducked his head as he finished.

I turned my eyes away and kept walking casually not wanting to appear to be rushing. My Kindle was on my favorite reading chair at their condo, a wide armchair set by the window. I angled over and picked it up.

“And?” Lizzie seemed to think there was more to Darcy’s reason.

“And I didn’t want you to see how affected I was—by the image of you that came into my mind.” Darcy spoke quietly but I could hear the huskiness in his voice.

Lizzie didn’t respond or I couldn’t hear her. But Darcy’s voice still carried to me as I reached the doorway. “Lydia gave the suit to you, didn’t she? Do you still have it?” 

Darcy spoke quietly but with a sense of urgency. Lizzie wasn’t the only one with a stellar memory.

Lizzie voice was barely audible. “Uh, yeah.” 

Darcy said something else that I could not hear. Before I left the room, I snuck a look over my shoulder. Lizzie was surprisingly quick. She was on Darcy’s lap and their lips and bodies were fused together, Darcy’s large hands spanning her back. I grinned as I hurried towards our bedroom. Darcy would be carrying her toward their room any minute now so Lizzie could model that suit for him and I really didn’t relish the thought of being mowed over. And now that Lizzie and Darcy would be occupied, I knew how I could wake Bing up so that he would be in a good mood.

 

“No, I didn’t tell Jane.” I froze in the hall as I heard Bing’s voice. I was returning from the bathroom as quickly as possible, knowing the cookies I had been baking were almost done. Christmas music was softly playing from the stereo and they must not have been able to hear me. “I wanted her to be able to relax a little. She’s been working so hard.”

“So she didn’t notice you’ve been ordering lunches for her entire team while they finished prepping for the show last weekend?” Lizzie sounded skeptical. “And an intern showed up out of nowhere to help them organize their work flow?”

“I asked the project lead, Carly, to take the credit,” Bing admitted. “I talked to her about how I could help during this project. She told me that having someone who could keep them on track would make a huge difference, but they could not pay for a new position. Jasmine is student I’ve worked with. She’s a junior at NYU and is interested in the fashion business. We were able to set up an internship for credit for her. The lunches were easy, just a couple of phone calls and they could work through lunch without worrying about it.”

“I’m impressed, Bing.” Darcy’s deep voice was cut off by Lizzie’s laugh. “You would be. It’s right up your alley.” Her voice was affectionate but she added, “If you ever pull a stunt like this, please let me know.”

“Of course I will,” I could hear Darcy’s smile in his voice.

“Setting up an internship at a company that didn’t have one before must have taken a good amount of time and effort from you, Bing.” I heard Lizzie continue to Bing.

“It wasn’t too hard,” Bing liked to downplay his efforts. He’d missed his calling not becoming a diplomat. “Plus it helped me get to know some staff and faculty at NYU. It’ll be easier to work with them on other internships now.”

I swallowed past the lump in my throat. Bing had been worried about my stress from my job for months. It was natural; the fashion industry was constantly simmering with tension due to the tight schedules, high exposure, creative differences and the never-ending critics that were part of the job. The timer buzzed and I slipped quietly back into the kitchen and took the cookies out of the oven. Leaning my arms against the counter, I closed my eyes and let my head drop digesting this new information. After a few minutes, I stood straight up and as I methodically covered the rest of the dough in plastic wrap, placed the bowl in the refrigerator and moved the warm cookies to a plate, my mind whirled with thoughts of Bing and our relationship. 

A weight lifted from my shoulders as I made a decision that had been nagging at me for some time. I wanted—no needed—to talk to Bing right now. Picking the plate of cookies up, I proceeded quickly into the living room. It was dark outside and the lamps provided a cozy circle of light around the three of them, the Christmas tree twinkling in the corner. Bing, Darcy and Lizzie were laughing but they stopped when I marched up and set the cookies down a little roughly on the coffee table. The clink of the porcelain on wood reverberated through the room. Six eyes looked at me with varying degrees of concern. Darcy looked wary, Lizzie worried, and Bing’s eyes held a hint of alarm.

“Bing,” I stepped in front of him. “Can I talk to you alone?” 

“Sure,” Bing stood up. Out of my peripheral vision, I saw Lizzie and Darcy look at each other. Bing followed me to our bedroom where I turned to face him. Bing put his hands in his pockets and waited for me to speak.

“I overheard what you said,” I started. “That you arranged for our intern and ordered us lunches the last few weeks before the show.”

Bing looked nervous. He shifted his weight from one foot to the other. “And I found out you have been talking to my mom to ask her to stop pressuring me about moving in with you.” I added quickly.

“You were so busy at work. Jasmine is loving her internship there. And I know how much it bothers you when your mother makes provoking comments about your personal life.”

“Why didn’t you just tell me?” I asked.

“I wasn’t sure if you would be willing to let me help with your job. You always worry I will be taking on too much, when really, matching people with educational and vocational opportunities is what I love to do the most. As for your mom, quite honestly I wasn’t sure if she’d listen to me.” Bing’s voice sounded almost apologetic. “You always do so much for me, Jane. You listen to me, support me, keep me on track and take care of me. I like to take care of you too.”

I looked down for a second, my thoughts in turmoil. His arguments had some validity. I’d been rather insistent that I make my own way since moving to New York with Bing. Having an intern working in our office was a huge help to all of us but it didn’t affect my job performance, just made it less pressured. As for my mom, quite frankly I honestly appreciated any help that didn’t hurt her feelings and induced her to stop nagging me about my personal life choices. Only my dad was better than Bing at negotiating with my mother. Miraculously, Bing could manage to persuade mom to make a 180 degree turn and convince her it was her idea.

“You’re not mad, are you?” Bing asked. Anxiety laced his voice.

“No, I’m not mad.” I put my arms on Bing’s shoulders and laced my fingers around his neck. Poor guy, I hadn’t meant to worry him. My emotions were so running so high, I hadn’t even managed to smile. It was taking all of my effort just to speak normally. “I’m touched.” My voice broke a little. “It was really sweet that you are trying to make things easier for me.”

Bing smiled, relieved. He put his arms around my waist and pulled me closer, but I needed to finish.

“In the future,” I said with a gentle warning note in my voice, “I’d like you to talk to me about these things before you just step in and try to fix them for me. I appreciate this—I really do—but you shouldn’t be doing this behind my back.”

Bing nodded. “You’re right, of course. I was afraid you’d think I was overstepping my bounds. I know you’re very capable at handling everything yourself, Jane. It was just hard for me to see you coming home so tired and stressed when your workload became even more gargantuan. I only want what’s best for you, Jane. I will do anything to make you happy.”

Tears pricked behind my eyelids. At this moment, I loved him more than ever. “I---,” I stopped unsure. I swallowed and looked down, unable to meet his eyes. Despite what Lizzie and Lydia had said, a tiny part of me was still concerned that Bing hadn’t asked me to move in with him for several months. My heart was beating rapidly and I spoke hesitantly. “If you still want to,” I started again, “I want to move in with you. I mean, I want to live with you. If you want me to.” My voice trailed off.

“Jane,” he said. There was a slight catch in his voice. I lifted my eyes to his face. He was beaming, his smile wide and open, his eyes lit up. He looked happier than I had ever seen him. “Are you serious? I would love to live with you.” He pulled me tightly into his arms. “I’ve been hoping for this day for so long,” he whispered in my ear, his voice rough. 

I laughed with relief, my eyes wet with tears. “I love you,” I whispered to him. Emotions I hadn’t realized were bottled up inside me released and I felt a rush of euphoria.

“I love you so much, Jane.” Bing bent down and cupping my face tenderly with his hands, kissed me. When the kiss broke, he pulled me down on the bed and I nestled in his arms. We lay quietly for several minutes before Bing spoke. “Were you actually nervous about asking me if I wanted you to move in with me?”

“Yes,” I admitted.

“Why?” He sounded astonished.

“You haven’t said anything for months.” When he started to protest, I put my finger on his lips. “I know, I asked you not to pressure me. But you didn’t hint or cajole or even make any kind of reference to us living together in the future. I’ve seen you in action when you want something, Bing. You’re a skilled negotiator and you do whatever it takes. After how much you asked me before, it scared me a little that you said nothing.”

“I was afraid it would push you away if I said anything. I was trying to do whatever it took, Jane. I was willing to wait for you no matter how much time you needed.” His voice was so sincere and caring. How did I get so lucky?

“I appreciate you letting me come to this decision on my own. I know now I’m really ready for this.” I lifted my head and kissed along his jaw and then buried my face on his chest again.

“Now I just want to hurry home so we can move you in with me instead of visiting my family for the next few days,” he said, his hands stroking my hair. 

“This way we can break the news in person to your family tomorrow,” I reminded him. Bing’s family still wasn’t thrilled about his career choice. He braced himself at each visit for oblique references to his missed opportunity of becoming a doctor. This would at least provide a distraction.

“And your mom will be thrilled when we come back for Christmas. You won’t have to worry about her inappropriate questions and comments.” Bing’s hand ran up my spine and I shivered and tightened my arm around his waist.

“Not so fast, Pollyanna.” I cautioned. “This just means she’ll move on to her next objective: when we’ll become engaged.”

Bing chuckled, “I’m on it.” I smiled. I knew I could count on him.


End file.
